We are finally here, down to the last 3 weeks before Superbowl XLIII (43) and nobody, and I mean NOBODY thought we would be discussing the Eagles and Cardinals who will face off for the 2009 NFC Championship and the right to play for the Superbowl.  I mean honestly, neither of these teams broke 10 wins in the regular season and everybody had them pegged for a first round loss.  Now we find ourselves heading to the desert to see who will represent the NFC in this years big dance in Tampa on February 1st.  Below are the current betting lines and my pick for this years NFC champion.

U of Phoenix Stadium
Glendale, AZ
Sunday, January 18th, 3:00pm EST
FOX

Philadelphia Eagles  -3.5      48      -185
Arizona Cardinals

My Pick:  Both of these teams were fairly big underdogs last week and both teams stunned their home team opponents and it all came down to defense.  The Eagles were saved many times by their defense who stopped the Gigantes  twice on forth and inches and kept Eli throwing duck balls all day due to unrelenting pressure from the Eagles D and a windy atmosphere that made effective running a must.  While you can’t do much to stop a charging Brandon Jacobs, the Eagles put the hold on Derrick Ward who didn’t even sniff the 100 yard mark.  They also kept Eli from putting anything together as he threw for a paultry 169 yards and 2 INT’s with 0 TD’s.  This is a testament and valdiation to the Eagles D putting the stop on the defending champs and they will need to bring no less effort this week in AZ.  Westbrook is the key here, his ability to find the holes as well as get open down field for the pass will have the Cards D very occupied which when used as a decoy can open things up for guys like DeSean Jackson and Hank Baskett.  If McNabb plays like he did last week I think it they have a great shot at keeping their rythem and forcing AZ to make big plays to keep up, which actually might not be that bad of an idea for the Cards.

The Cards D is certainly nothing to thumb your nose at as they picked off Delhomme an astounding 5 times last week!  (Which by the way has rumors floating around that he is done in Carolina.)  I won’t give the Cards all the credit as some of those INT’s were just plain horrible, but they converted when it mattered and thats all that counts.  The deep threat that is posed by Warner and just about any receiver on the field should be the main concern for the Eagles, as they should be able to stop Time Hightower and Ole E James pretty handidly.  I think that if the Cards can keep up on defense then Warner should be able to outgun McNabb and force some riskier plays on the part of the Eagles who will need to play catch up.

The spread is a bit high for me at 3.5, I think 3 would be about perfect.  I think that AZ outguns the Eagles in the air, but the Westbrook threat is going to be what makes them or breaks them.  If he is on hit then I think the Eagles take it all in a big way.  If he isn’t then it could be long day for Philly.  Since I have to make a pick here I think you go with the hometeam who has already surprised everyone this year, many times.  I think Warner has what it takes to get it done, he has done it before and there is no shortage of talent around him. Take the points before it comes down!!! 

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